Definitions
by gardenflowers
Summary: Coulson, May, words, and a whole lot of in-between's. Inspired by David Levithan's "The Lover's Dictionary."
1. Chapter 1

**DEFINITIONS**

Coulson, May, words, and a whole lot of in-between's. Inspired by David Levithan's "The Lover's Dictionary."

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**A/N - Non-chronological one-shots/drabbles, regarding my favorite leader & pilot combo (as if I'd write anything else.) David Levithan is to be blamed for this, as I found The Lover's Dictionary quite intriguing.**

**DISCLAIMER**: I don't own anything. Bummer. _No copyright infringement intended. _

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**ablaze**, _adj_.

HE WAS SEETHING with anger. She too. He threw an punch, followed by another. She, of course, managed to avoid all of them. Their last mission was a fuck-up. Their covers were blown to early. Three members of their team are in the damn hospital while the rest of them faced a week of suspension. Four weeks of work, wasted.

So they spar, as sparring never failed to grant them some kind of release, with each kick, with each punch. And judging from the horrendous shitstorm they were currently in, it was rather impossible that they would not turn to their tradition.

He was a mess when he fought furious. He threw consecutive sloppy punches, as the sweat continues to trickle down his brow. He failed to hit her every single time. She then changed her stance, taking the offense this time. It was as if he had no time to think, a solid kick hits him right on the arm.

She began to lash out on him. Every hit was followed by another, and another...

And he blocked them all miserably. She landed a punch right to his gut.

He winced and took a step back. But she only allowed him to a second or two, as she threw a series of kicks and punches when he was barely back on his feet again.

This time, he blocked her assault better. He made an effort to retaliate, by answering her attacks with a combination of punches. He barely missed.

She quickly puts an end to his new-found confidence with a roundhouse to the side of his head.

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**A/N -Okay, so here I am again with my attempts on what past!Coulson and past!May would be like. R&R, maybe?**


	2. Chapter 2

**adagio**, _adv_ or _adj_.

_THIS IS JUST a part of their ac_t. She tries to remind herself.

But with his face only a few inches away from hers, she could see; she could look right through his eyes.

As if the lights were out and the music gone, nothing else mattered. There's only him and her, slow dancing in a rather crowded ballroom.

She finds it hard to breathe, to keep her head clear.

Her heart beats a little bit faster, and she tries to resist the urge to lick her lips.

She's still repulsive about any kind of undercover assignment, _but moments like these_...


	3. Chapter 3

**addend**, _n_.

SIMMONS BAKED A birthday cake for him earlier that day. Needless to say he was surprised on how good she was with baking (_the chocolate cake simply tasted divine_.) and decorating (who'd expect a brilliant biochemist can recreate _Captain America's shield with icing_?)

There were food. There were drinks. And hours after the team's surprise party, sitting alone in the comfort of his own office, Phil Coulson still couldn't surmise how they managed to keep the celebration a secret from him and he didn't suspect anything if it was just right under his nose all the time. _But maybe he did_. He admits to himself. _He just doesn't want to spoil the surprise_.

Well, he was been working for S.H.I.E.L.D. for years now.

His eyes settled on the newest addition to the items on top of his desk, a plastic Captain America pen holder - a gift from Skye.

He couldn't believe that it had been yet another year. And as if, last year, he wasn't bleeding to death, with a hole on his chest, lying on the cold metal floor of -

Thankfully, a knock on his door woke him up from his reverie.

She lets herself in without a word for him. And for a moment, she only stood there, leaning against the door, eyes on the carpeted floor of his office.

He waits.

When she finally decides to meet his eyes, she greets, "Happy birthday, Phil." The words escape her mouth in a low whisper and his lips curved into a smile.

She makes her way in front of his desk, and hands him a small, rectangular gift box wrapped in blue with a red ribbon on top, which she'd been hiding behind her back the moment she entered his office. She leaves before he can even say his thanks.

He carefully removes the ribbon and opens the box.

Captain America collectible cards. Just like the ones he lost during the Battle of New York, he noted, but something on the card on top of the deck catches his eyes so he decides to look through the rest.

_Steve Rogers himself signed each one_.

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**A/N - Something light because I can say a lot has been happening in the show recently, even if I haven't caught up yet. Remember when things were okay and the team were okay? :"(**


	4. Chapter 4

**asperity**, _n_.

_TRAITOR_. THE LABEL still looms above her head like a dark cloud.

His body's tense. His jaws are clenched. He refused to meet her eyes.

TRAITOR.

She had already revealed her hand, yet his mind is still clouded with doubt. He still believed that she had betrayed him, when the reason that she had kept these secrets from him was to protect him, to keep him sane.

She bit her lips and tried to divert his attention to the sensation that came with her teeth digging into thin skin.

Harsh. There's a certain harshness in him when he bandaged her arm. _Last time was differen_t. She didn't find the same gentleness in his hands.

No familiarity. No care.

Absent, because before was different.

She'd explain it again and again and again, if he'd let her so, until he understands why, but she knows that the day when he grants him that chance won't be today, because the wound is still fresh.

When did she become the person in this dam plane she trusts the least when she used to be the one he trusts the most?

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**A/N - As much as I don't want to give up on this show, the show itself makes it so hard for me to still believe in it. There's just so many things that's going on and much of it in my opinion remains to be unjustified. _Ugh_. Not to mention the amount of shit May's been receiving in the recent episodes makes me so angry and sad at the same time, because MELINDA MAY DESERVES SO MUCH MORE. I believe in her, and I just hope that the writers could only _believe _in her as much as I do, as much as all her fans do. **


	5. Chapter 5

**asunder**, _adv _or _adj._

SHE CRADLED THE file to her chest as she stepped out of the Director's office. The world around her has gone silent and she can't hear anything but the clicking sounds her heels made as they rhythmically struck the tiled floor as she walked. Her mouth has gone dry. Unconsciously, she quickened her pace. She needed to be alone.

The elevator was empty, and the moments the doors closed, she broke.

_Coulson is alive._

She ran a hand through her hair as her eyes began to sting with unshed tears - tears she should have shed in his funeral that never took place. Leaning against the cold metal wall, she covered her mouth as the sobs shook her body.

_Coulson is alive_.

The exact moment Nick Fury uttered those words is a moment she could never get out of her head. Not in this life.

She held on to the folder a little bit tighter, the reminder of Fury's offer, of the decision she had to make.

But as she stood alone in that elevator, wallowing in a cacophony of shock, sadness, joy, and grief, she was aware that if the price of keeping him alive is her return to the field, it was a price she was willing to pay.

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**A/N - I was stuck with the first sentence for days so I'm just glad that I'm done with this baby. So there it goes for A! Hopefully, B will grant me "happy" words to inspire me to write happy stories, because I'm not really too fond of the angst/drama and we already get that from the show. See you next chapter!**


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